• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.741-751
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• 1997

Measurement of blood lead (PbB) and blood zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) are most common biological indices to identify the individual at risk for excess or the health sequences by lead exposure. Because PbB is known most important and reliable index of lead exposure, PbB is often regarded as a gold standard to detect lead exposure. But in Korea PbB is a secondary test item of detailed health check-up with positive finding of screening test in most occasion. Our lead standard requires all lead workers to take annual heath-check twice a year for investigation of their health effect due to lead exposure. Blood ZPP is one of most important index to detect high lead absorption in lead workers as a screening test. Measurement of blood ZPP is known ,well to correlate with PbB in steady state of exposure in most lead workers and is often used as a primary screening test to detect high lead absorption of lead workers with the advantage of simplicity, easiness, portability and low cost. The current cut-off criteria of blood ZPP for further detailed health check-up is $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ which is supposed to match the level of $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ of PbB according to our standard. Authors tried to investigate the validity of current criteria of cut-off level $(100{\mu}g/d\ell)$ of blood ZPP and possible another better cut-off level of it to detect the lead workers whose PbB level over $40{\mu}g/d\ell$. The subjects in our study were 212 male workers in three small scale storage battery industries. Blood ZPP, PbB and hemoglobin (Hb) were selected as the indices of lead exposure. The results were as follows. 1. The mean of blood ZPP, PbB and Hb in lead workers were $79.5{\pm}46.7{\mu}g/d\ell,\;38.7{\pm}15.1{\mu}g/d\ell,\;and\;14.8{\pm}1.2g/d\ell$, respectively. There were significant differences in blood ZPP, PbB and Hb by industry (P<0.01). 2. The percents of lead workers whose blood ZPP were above $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ in the group of work duration below 1, 1-4, 5-9 and above 10 years were 8.6%, 17.2%, 47.6%, and 50.0%, respectively. The percents of lead workers whose PbB were above $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ in those were 31.4%, 40.4%, 71.4%, and 86.4%, respectively. 3. The percents of lead workers whose PbB were below $40{\mu}g/d\ell$, $40-59{\mu}g/d\ell$ and above $60{\mu}g/d\ell$ were 54.7%, 34.9% and 10.4%, respectively. Those of lead workers whose blood ZPP were below $100{\mu}g/d\ell$, $100-149{\mu}g/d\ell$ and above $150{\mu}g/d\ell$ were 79.2%, 13.7% and 7.1%, respectively. 4. Simple linear regression of PbB on blood ZPP was statistically significant (P<0.01) and as PbB was $40{\mu}g/d\ell$, blood ZPP was $82.1{\mu}g/d\ell$. 5. While the highest sensitivity and specificity of blood ZPP test to detect lead workers with PbB eve. $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ were observed in the cut-off level of $50{\mu}g/d\ell$ and $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ of blood ZPP, respectively, the highest validity (sensitivity+specificity) of blood ZPP to detect lead workers with PbB over $40{\mu}g/d\ell$ was observed in the cut-off level of around $70{\mu}g/d\ell$ of blood ZPP. But even with optimal cut-off level of around $70{\mu}g/d\ell$ of blood ZPP, still 25.0% of false negative and 20.7% false positive lead workers were found. As the result of this study, it was suggested that reconsideration of current blood ZPP cut-off of our lead standard from $100{\mu}g/d\ell$ to somewhat lower level such as around $70{\mu}g/d\ell$ and the inclusion of PbB measurement as a primary screening test for lead workers was highly recommended for the effective prevention of lead workers.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제32권10호
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• pp.844-849
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• 2008

We present a novel cell deformability monitoring chip based on the digitally measured cell lysis rate which is dependent on the areal strain of the cell membrane. This method offers simple cell deformability monitoring by automated high-throughput testing system. We suggest the filter design considering the areal strain imposed on the cell membrane passing through the filter array having gradually increased orifice length. In the experiment using erythrocytes, we characterized the cell deformability in terms of average fracture areal strain which was $0.24{\pm}0.014\;and\;0.21{\pm}0.002$ for normal and chemically treated erythrocytes, respectively. We also verified that the areal strain of 0.15 effectively discriminates the deformability difference of normal and chemically treated erythrocytes, which can be applied to the clinical situation. We compared the lysis rates and their difference for the samples from different donors and found that the present chips can be commonly used without any calibration process. The experimental results demonstrate the simple structure and high performance of the present cell deformability monitoring chips, applicable to simple and cost-effective cell aging process monitoring.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.343-345
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• 1998

Stellate ganglion block and cervical epidural nerve block are frequently practiced in pain clinics because of simple procedure and good effect. Nerve block at head and neck may produce serious complication such as loss of consciousness and cardiac arrest. Blood supply is rich in neck and inadvertent arterial injection of local anesthetics may enter directly into brain. We experienced convulsion and respiratory arrest during SGB and cervical epidural block. The patients were resuscitated successfully and recovered without any adverse effects.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.144-152
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• 2005

To evaluate the effect of lead biomarkers including bone lead on neurobehavioral test in lead workers, 652 lead workers without any occupational exposure to organic solvent, mercury and arsenic were agreed to participate this study. For the control subjects 102 non-occupationally lead exposed blue collar workers in general manufacturing industries were also joined this study. All study subjects joined this study with written informed consent. The study variables of lead exposure were blood and patella lead. For the general characteristics of study subjects, standardized questionnaire regarding age, sex, past disease history, job duration, body mass index (BMI), drinking and smoking habit were provided. For the past history of neurotoxicity related diseases, all study subjects were interviewed by qualified occupational health physician. The results obtained were as follows: 1. Compared with controls without occupational lead exposure, lead exposed subjects had worse performance on all tests(p<0.05). 2. After adjustment for covariates (age, sex, job duration, education level, BMI, smoking and drinking status), the signs of the regression coefficients for blood lead were negative for 13 of the 14 tests. Blood lead was a significant predictor of poorer scores on 8 tests (simple reaction time(ms & root MSD), Trail-Making Test B, Digit Symbol Substitution, Purdue Pegboard assembly, Digit Span Test, Benton Visual Retention, and Purdue pegboard both hand). 3. After adjustment for covariates (age, sex, job duration, education level, BMI, smoking and drinking status), the signs of the regression coefficients for patella lead were negative for 12 of the 14 tests. Patella lead was a significant predictor of poorer scores on 8 tests (simple reaction time(ms). Purdue Pegboard assembly, Digit Span Test, Benton Visual Retention. Pursuit Aiming rest (no. of correct & no. of incorrect), Purdue pegboard non-dominant hand and both hand). With above results, blood lead and patella lead were associated with poorer performance of neurobehavioral tests. In addition, patella lead was confirmed to be better predictor of manual dexterity test in neurobehavioral test battery in lead workers

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제61권2호
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• pp.270-275
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• 2012

This paper presents a portable and compact optical device which can conveniently be used to perform a functional analysis of human liver function. The proposed system employed red/green LEDs, as a light source, and CMOS image sensor, which is commonly used in cellular phones. With this system, several blood serum samples have been evaluated for liver functional analysis by measuring light absorption level through the blood serum samples depending on aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and total bilirubin concentration. The light absorption through the blood serum samples containing AST, ALT, or total bilirubin can provide their concentrations. The green light absorption is more sensitive to the concentration of AST or ALT, and the red light absorption is more sensitive to the total bilirubuin concentration. Additional calibration steps were performed by using a MATLAB program in order to eliminate the light scattering effects from the extraneous particles existing in each blood serum sample. From the blind test, three standard light intensity curves through each enzyme have been obtained and the enzyme concentration values have been compared to those obtained from a commercially available biochemistry analyzer (Toshiba 200 FR). The average percent difference in the obtained concentrations from two systems for AST, ALT, and total bilirubin concentration came out to be 7.79%, 7.98%. and 7.56%, respectively, with the adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) higher than 0.98. This system can possibly lead to a low-cost and simple system that can be used as a point-of-care (POC) system in a condition without advanced equipments.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.227-233
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• 2009

Local malaria transmission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) came to an end in 1997. Nevertheless, UAE has been subjected to substantial importation of malaria cases from abroad, concerning both UAE nationals and immigrants from malarious countries with a total number of 2,119 cases in 2007. To evaluate a new DNA extraction technique using nested PCR, blood samples were collected from 132 individuals who presented to Infectious Diseases Department in Rashid Hospital, Dubai, and Central Department of Malaria Control with fever and persistent headache. Giemsa-stained blood films and ELISA test for malaria antibodies were carried out for detection of Plasmodium infection. Plasmodium infections were identified with the genus-specific primer set and species differentiation using nested PCR. A rapid procedure for diagnosis of malaria infections directly from dried blood spots using for the first time DNA extract from FTA Elute cards was evaluated in contrast to extraction techniques using FTA classic cards and rapid boiling technique. Our new simple technique for DNA extraction using FTA Elute cards was very sensitive giving a sensitivity of 100% compared to 94% using FTA classic cards and 62% in the rapid boiling technique. No complex preparation of blood samples was required prior to the amplification. The production cost of DNA isolation in our PCR assay was much less incomparable to that of other DNA extraction protocols. The nested PCR detected plasmodial infection and could differentiate P. falciparum from P. vivax, and also detected the mixed infection.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.301-306
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• 2019

Purpose: This report presents a procedure for performing power Doppler ultrasound-guided sialography using the phenomenon of increased blood flow and illustrates its application to practical patient cases. Materials and Methods: The salivary gland was scanned using ultrasound equipment (GE LOGIQ5 Expert^® device; GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI, USA) to identify pathological findings related to the patient's chief complaint. To identify the orifice of the main duct, it should be cannulated using a lacrimal dilator. After inserting the catheter into the cannulated main duct, the position of the catheter within the duct was confirmed by ultrasound. A contrast agent was injected until the patient felt fullness, and ultrasound (B-mode) was used to confirm whether the contrast agent filled the main canal and secondary and tertiary ducts. Then, power Doppler ultrasound was performed to determine whether the salivary gland had increased blood flow. Results: In 2 cases in this report, a power Doppler ultrasound scan showed a significant increase in blood flow after contrast medium injection, which was not observed on a preoperative scan. Conclusion: Power Doppler ultrasound was found to be a simple, safe, and effective tool for real-time sialography monitoring.

• 대한의용생체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한의용생체공학회 1997년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.575-578
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• 1997

Myocardial blood low (MBF) in human can be noninvasively quantified using dynamic N-13 ammonia PET and two-compartment tracer kinetic model. In this study, factor analysis was used to extract the "pure" blood-pool time-activity curves (TACs) and to generate actor images. ive human N-13 ammonia PET dynamic studies were obtained. Three actors and their corresponding actor images were extracted rom each study. The accuracy of MBF estimated by the actor analysis (FA/FA MBF) was examined by comparing to the values estimated using the conventional ROI method (ROI/ROI MBF). MBF obtained by the actor analysis linearly correlated with MBF obtained by the ROI method (slope=0.98, r=0.91). Input unctions obtained by the two methods agreed well. In conclusion, MBF can be measured accurately and noninvasively with dynamic N-13 ammonia PET imaging and actor analysis. This method is simple and acurate and can measure MBF without blood sampling, ROI drawing nor spillover correction.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.223-229
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• 1984

An attempt to confirm the associations of some selected risk factors of HBV infection and measure their risks, a cross-sectional study with 1,209 urban office workers was carried out. For the study, a simple questionnaire which contained several questions on personal experience and behaviors on several known selected risk factors of HBV infection was applied to each subject, and the Hepatitis B virus surface antigen and its antibody were checked by RPHA and PHA method, respectively. Risk factors chosen for this study were experience of blood transfusion and personal contact variables, such as frequencies of eating-out, drinking after office hours, going to tea room, sharing cigarettes, etc. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The proportion of HBsAg positive was 10.6%, and total HVB infected including the Anti-HBs positive cases without vaccination was 44.2%. Both were higher in male than in female. 2. Frequent personal contact through glasses and dishes in eating-outs and drinkings turned out not to be a significant risk factor of Hepatitis B surface antigenecity. 3. Frequent visits to tea room was a significant risk factor of HBV infection which combined HBsAg positive cases and Anti-HBs cases who had not received HBV vaccination. The odds ratio was 1.56 4. Blood transfusion was not a significant risk factor of both HBsAg positive and total HBV infection. In summary, indirect oral contacts through eating-outs and drinkings was not significant risk factor in Korea at least between adults. Blood transfusion is no more major source of HBV infection in Korea probably because the adquate screening test of HBsAg for the blood donors is being made.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.263-274
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• 2012

This study describes the hypertensive patients characteristics associated with the health incentive point program, and develops and analyzes a simple predictive model of participation in the program. Based on the Incheon Chronic Disease Management System(iCDMS), a model program of community partnership for hypertensive or diabetic patients detection and follow-up since 2005 in Incheon metropolitan city, a cross-sectional design was used in this study. An effective 10.844 adults sample was divided into groups according to participation in the health incentive point program and continuing treatment, and individual and health characteristics among groups were compared. Furthermore, the predictors associated with participation in the program were identified by the logistic regression analysis. After the health incentive point program in iCDMS was introduced, the number of hypertensive patients participation in the program increased 23.9 times which is vastly high given the various programs were provided. There were statistically significant differences among the groups: age(p=0.000), treatment compliance(p=0.000), and blood pressure control at the last measurement(p=0.000), in particular, between participation group(GroupI, n=246) and non-participation group(GroupIII, n=10,408). Furthermore, age over 60 years(OR: 0.33), treatment compliance(OR: 3.49~3.78) and blood pressure controls(OR: 2.13~2.30) were statistically significant predictors associated with participation in the program, based on the logistic regression analysis with GroupI and GroupIII. To increase participation in the health incentive point program, variables such as age, treatment compliance and blood pressure controls are more concerned. And, high-risk patients and family members need targeted health incentive programs.